Burning Data at 4x

[rickoshay]

Is there a way to burn a data cd file on nero, or another program, a 4x instead of12x.

[Baldrick]

MOving you to our computer section.

[redwudz]

Use ImgBurn, set write speed.

Any particular reason to burn at 4X? Seems like a waste of time and I doubt if it will burn any better. If your media is that low of quality, try better media.

[rickoshay]

I have trouble playing an avi. video my my dvd player. I have played avi's before. I thought using a slower speed would allow them to play better.

Thank you for you help.

[lordsmurf]

Burn speed is a myth, when it comes to some things -- this is one of those times.

Your problem is more likely a choice of media (use better blank DVDs),
OR if you're using known-good media, it's an issue with the burner or reader.

Burning faster or slower won't make any real difference.

In fact, burning 4x on many modern 16x discs will give a worse burn than 8x, 12x or 16x.

[jman98]

Nero has extremely limited burning speed options. At least the last version I bought did. Hence the suggestion to use ImgBurn.

Burning at lower speed is not a worthless idea. Faster burns do tend to be somewhat less accurate. On lower quality media, and in North America almost everything is lower quality media (Verbatim and Taiyo Yuden are exceptions), the burn will have fewer errors and it may actually play better if it is burned slower. But your best bet really is to use either Verbatim or Taiyo Yuden (you'll have to buy these online).

[redwudz]

Unless the OP misspoke in his first post, he's asking about CD media, where 4X burning is very old technology with possible 50X+ burning speeds prevalent lately. Even with DVDs, IMO, 4X is a waste of time unless you are using really crappy DVD media. Use better media.

8X is reasonable for DVD, though I burn my 16x DVD media at 12X most times. 16X also works well when I've used that speed, but I would rather err on the positive side at 12X. Most newer DVD media does not burn well at very much lower speeds, JMO there.

[hech54]

I only use 4x and 8x on DVD....and only use 16x on CD....no matter what the speed rating is on my discs OR which burner I happen to be using. Never a problem.

[rickoshay]

Thank you all for your help and quick reply. I'm using Image Burn and it seems to work fine. Again, Thank you

[Seeker47]

Unless the OP misspoke in his first post, he's asking about CD media, where 4X burning is very old technology with possible 50X+ burning speeds prevalent lately. Even with DVDs, IMO, 4X is a waste of time unless you are using really crappy DVD media. Use better media.

8X is reasonable for DVD, though I burn my 16x DVD media at 12X most times. 16X also works well when I've used that speed, but I would rather err on the positive side at 12X. Most newer DVD media does not burn well at very much lower speeds, JMO there.

And there are always exceptions or extenuating factors. My Samsung burner -- which must be at least 8x rated, even as an older model -- has apparently been ailing for quite some time. By trial and error, I know that burn failures on DVD media (the good kind, which I use) are avoided at a burn speed of 4x (3x for DL), but are very possible if I exceed that. Probably I should just replace the burner, but it has continued working reliably at this speed. I'm not sure how the seeming loss of laser power with this burner affects CD burns, which I do less often on that computer, but I've done 12x without a problem.

And here's another exception to what LordSmurf was just saying: I have an older laptop that refuses to run any CD that was burned at faster than 8x. But I'm not ready to retire that computer. So, if I want to install anything on it from CD, I have to make sure the CD was made at no more than 8x.

These particular burn speeds are not by choice, they are workarounds. But, so long as they work . . . .